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His longsword flowed through a series of strikes while the dagger remained active, guarding openings and preparing counterattacks.
Wilhelm watched quietly for several moments.
"Good."
The professor nodded.
"Your swordsmanship is solid. Not perfect, but far ahead of what I expected from a first-year student."
Ash stopped and waited for further instructions.
"Now comes the important part."
Wilhelm stepped beside him.
"Battle Mages don't fight like ordinary warriors."
He pointed toward Ash's sword.
"A warrior uses his weapon."
Then he pointed toward Ash himself.
"A mage uses magic."
Finally, he pointed at both the sword and dagger.
"A Battle Mage uses both as a single system."
Ash listened carefully.
"Your spells should not interrupt your attacks. Your attacks should not interrupt your spells."
Wilhelm raised a finger.
"If an enemy can tell when you're casting, you're doing it wrong."
With a quick movement, the professor drew a training sword from a nearby rack.
"Watch."
He swung once.
At the same moment, a small gust of wind formed around the blade.
A second swing followed.
This time, a layer of ice appeared along the sword's path.
Then came a thrust accompanied by a burst of fire.
The spells appeared naturally, almost as extensions of the weapon itself.
There was no pause.
The swordsmanship and magic blended together seamlessly.
"That is what you're aiming for."
Ash nodded.
"I understand."
"Good."
Wilhelm stepped back.
"Start with First Magic only. Weave simple elemental effects into every strike. Don't stop moving. Don't stop attacking."
Ash immediately began practicing.
He swung the longsword.
A small gust of wind followed the blade.
He transitioned into another strike.
This time, a thin layer of frost formed along the edge.
His dagger moved next.
A tiny spark of fire appeared around the blade before vanishing.
At first the timing was rough.
The spells activated slightly before or after the strikes.
Wilhelm immediately noticed.
"Again."
Ash repeated the sequence.
"Again."
Another attempt.
"Again."
The professor's instructions remained simple.
"Make the spell part of the strike."
Ash continued practicing.
Within minutes, his movements became noticeably smoother.
The spell activation and weapon movements slowly began synchronizing.
Seeing the rapid improvement, Wilhelm's eyebrows rose slightly.
Most students required days to grasp the concept.
Ash was already making progress after only a few minutes.
"Interesting," the professor thought as he continued observing.
"It seems his talent isn't limited to swordsmanship."
Ash simply nodded.
He had no intention of explaining that it wasn't talent at all.
Most of what he was doing came from countless hours of sparring against Saber.
During those battles, weaving spells into every movement had been completely normal. Against someone of Saber's caliber, stopping to cast a spell separately was practically asking to lose.
As a result, combining sword strikes, footwork, and magic had become second nature to him.
Of course, Ash wasn't about to reveal that.
If he told Professor Wilhelm that his regular training involved fighting someone skilled enough to force him to seamlessly blend swordsmanship and spellcasting together, people would immediately start asking questions.
Questions he couldn't answer.
Or rather, questions he shouldn't answer.
So he simply continued practicing.
His longsword cut through the air.
A gust of wind followed the blade.
The next strike carried a thin layer of frost.
His dagger flickered forward, accompanied by a brief spark of fire.
Professor Wilhelm watched carefully.
Unlike before, Ash's spells were beginning to activate at exactly the right moment.
The magic no longer felt separate from the attack.
It felt like part of the attack itself.
"Good," Wilhelm said.
"Again."
Ash repeated the sequence.
The sword moved.
Wind followed.
The dagger struck.
Fire flashed.
Another swing.
Ice formed along the blade's path.
The process continued for several minutes.
Meanwhile, the rest of the class was still practicing basic weapon forms.
Many students struggled just to maintain proper footwork while swinging their chosen weapons.
Some forgot their stance.
Others gripped their weapons incorrectly.
A few nearly hit themselves while attempting more complicated movements.
Compared to them, Ash looked like he belonged to a completely different class.
Eventually, Wilhelm called for everyone's attention.
The students immediately stopped what they were doing.
"Listen carefully."
He walked to the center of the hall.
"The biggest mistake beginners make is treating magic and weapon combat as separate disciplines."
He pointed toward Ash.
"A Battle Mage doesn't switch between magic and swordsmanship."
Then he raised a finger.
"They use both simultaneously."
The students nodded.
Some more reluctantly than others.
Wilhelm continued.
"For your next assignment, I want all of you to become comfortable with your chosen weapon. Learn its weight. Learn its reach. Learn how it moves."
He looked around the room.
"Only after that will you begin learning how to properly weave magic into combat."
Then his eyes landed on Ash again.
"As for you, continue your current training."
Ash nodded.
"Yes, Professor."
The lesson continued for another hour.
By the end, most students were exhausted.
Their arms ached from repeatedly swinging unfamiliar weapons.
Ash, however, felt perfectly fine.
Compared to the training sessions Saber put him through, today's lesson had been relatively easy.
As the students began leaving the hall, Wilhelm watched Ash from a distance.
The professor had spent decades teaching Battle Mages.
That experience told him something important.
Ash wasn't merely talented.
He had been perfectly trained.
And whoever had trained him knew exactly what they were doing.
"I would love to meet the bastard who trained him," Wilhelm thought.
A spark of competitiveness flashed in his eyes.
The more he watched Ash, the more curious he became about the mysterious teacher behind him.
Whoever it was had clearly not trained Ash like a normal mage.
The boy's movements, instincts, and combat awareness all pointed toward someone with extensive battlefield experience.
And if possible, Wilhelm would very much like to fight that person.
Back at his dormitory, Ash was completely unaware of the professor's thoughts.
After such a grueling day of classes and training, he returned directly to his room.
He washed up, changed into comfortable clothes, and collapsed onto his bed.
Within minutes, he was asleep.